A-P boys survive D-NH challenge

PARKERSBURG – Aplington-Parkersburg boys basketball was prepared for Dike-New Hartford’s best shot.

With the season on the line, the Falcons expected that the Wolverines would dig down to find a way to challenge their rivals after two blowout A-P victories in the regular season.

D-NH wielded the raw athleticism in its lineup to slow down A-P’s high-powered offense, but a patient Falcons squad found a way to overcome once again, 41-37 winners over the Wolverines in a district semifinal at A-P High School on Thursday.

A-P (20-2) moves on to Tuesday’s district final against Grundy Center, in a location to be determined. D-NH’s season ends at 9-14.

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“At the end of the day, you’ve just got to win by one to keep playing,” said A-P head coach Aaron Thomas. “Our guys stayed calm, stayed with it. … We won’t get any style points, but as long as we win, we’re moving on.”

With under four minutes left in the game, D-NH’s Jacob Stockdale drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 32-all.

A-P’s Jayden Mackie answered with his own three and the Falcons picked up a stop to force D-NH into fouling to put A-P on the line.

From there, the Falcons were 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, including 4-for-4 for Gavin Thomas.

“He’s always liked the big games,” said Aaron Thomas, “never shied away from it. … That’s what you work and get ready for and I hope all our guys just stay confident. … I want them to be confident in their abilities and what they do well. And I’m proud of him for stepping up tonight and the guys for finding him when they knew he had the hot hand.”

Gavin led the Falcons with 19 points.

“I just try to stay calm and look for my shot when I’m open,” Gavin Thomas said. “And my teammates found me, so credit to them.”

After the tip-off, the Wolverines forced a turnover and dribbled and passed around possession to drain nearly two minutes off the clock.

“The whole idea was to come in and try and shorten the game a little bit,” D-NH head coach Greg Moore said. “We were looking for layups in the first half and otherwise a clean kickout if we could get it, and defensively keep the ball out of the post and make them take perimeter shots.”

That first possession set the tone for what ended up being an 8-2 D-NH advantage after the first quarter as the few shots the Falcons were able to take rimmed out.

“I figured they’d try to slow it down, but I didn’t know they’d slow it that much,” Aaron Thomas said. “But Coach Moore is such a good coach, does such a great job and I knew he’d have a plan.”

The Falcons found some momentum with seven D-NH turnovers in the second quarter, whether it be through steals, taking charges, or defending D-NH into miscues, storming forth to a 20-15 lead at halftime.

“We knew we couldn’t just let them sit back and hold it,” Gavin Thomas said. “We got up in there and really tried to force turnovers and create steals.”

In the second half, A-P led by as many as seven points early on before the Wolverines closed out again, with D-NH big Brewer Eiklenborg holding his own with A-P’s Christian Haugstad, scoring 11 points with eight rebounds.

Stockdale, who led D-NH with 12 points, drilled a shot to put D-NH ahead 29-28 early in the fourth but Garrett Hempen was quick to answer to put A-P back ahead 30-29.

Haugstad put back a second-chance bucket and the teams traded turnovers before Stockdale’s three-ball that set the final moments of the game in motion.

“It came down to one or two turnovers or missed shots, or one or two defensive stops, otherwise the kids did a heck of a job,” Moore said.

D-NH’s seniors included Devon Kollasch, Jacob Stockdale, Nathan Graves, Brewer Eiklenborg, Isaac Derifield, Tanner Dewall and Cale Jensen.

“You come in at 9-13 and you’re looking at a team that’s 19-2 and they could’ve easily said well, you don’t have those chances,” Moore said. “But they really buckled down and the last few practices have been awesome. They were focused and they bought into the game plan that we gave them. The seniors did a good job executing and making big plays.”

Thursday likely won’t be the last time an opponent tries to slow down the Falcons.

“Now we’ve seen it,” Gavin Thomas said. “I think we’ll learn from it and know how to be better with that.”